Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive ST305004FPA1E3-RK by Seagate
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Digital camera reviews of Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive ST305004FPA1E3-RK
Digital camera Review: Exceeds Expectations
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a college student who bought this to save large data, music, and movie files. Since I am studying video game development I have a tendency to use hard drive space quickly. The main requirements I had prior to buying any external drive was it had to interface with both my Mac PowerPC G4 running Tiger 10.4, and an HP Laptop running XP2. It also must have both firewire and USB compatibility (HP did not have firewire ports.)
Setup was easy, only had to plug it into the Mac (used firewire) and the external automatically appeared on the desktop, same with the HP (via USB.) On default the Seagate is formatted in Microsoft OS, however that presented no problems for me, even on the Mac. Despite what the box may have said I did not reformat or even partition the external drive with Window/Mac only segments. I did discover when hooked to the HP it came pre-installed with its own set of auto-backup software. I installed it initially only to never use it, and as a result, deleted the software later.
My one and only complaint about this unit is the inability to run USB and firewire at the same time. On the bottom of the unit is a slot and included in the box are two different components that fit into it. One is a two port USB; the other is two-port firewire. This makes it impossible for me to hook up both computers at the same time unless it's via USB (which the Mac happily does as well.) Swapping them out is exceptionally easy making it an annoyance rather than a hindrance.
I was skeptical going into this since it seemed that the vast majority of other comparable units were considerably more expensive, however I am extremely happy with the Seagate. Both the HP and Mac interface flawlessly with the drive, and in the case of the Mac, it doesn't matter whether its firewire or USB. If it weren't for the swapping of USB - firewire I would be giving this 5 stars.
Digital camera Review: Excellent drive but I have FireWire problems
Summary: 4 Stars
The drive arrived quickly, well packaged, easily set up and running. It is quiet and the bundled software worked well. (Although when I first installed the autobackup it had a pop-up window offering a $[...] discount on additional licensed copies, and I bypassed and have never been able to get the discount code again. If you are like me and like to have licensed software, write down the discount code the first time it pops up and you'll be able to use it against the $[...] price of add'l licenses.)
I also bought a "TrendNet" firewire card from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006PRMJG/102-9726663-2521740), which was the lowest price 400 card available.
I first fired up the drive with the installed USB / eSATA interfaces (because the FireWire card was backordered) and it worked fine with USB 2.0 interface.
When the FireWire card came, I installed it in the desktop PC (Windows XP Home) with no problems. I swapped the drive's interface (instructions included, simple operation) to the FireWire one, plugged it in, and it came up. However, after shutting down the PC the drive didn't come back up and get recognized (the main light around the perimeter was "beaconing" - .5 sec on / off continuously). No explanation of what the error was in Seagate doc or online. Seagate control program did not recognize the drive as installed. Shutdown on the drive did not work. (I did not find until recently that one can remove the drive from within the Network places window - do not expect that to address the problem but will try.)
Microsoft had a "hot fix" (not a release, a partially-tested patch) that sounded like this exact problem, so I registered, downloaded, and installed the hot fix. It did not fix the problem. I am back now to using the USB 2.0 interface, which is no problem, but I was looking forward to the faster FW400.
Otherwise no issues and I would recommend this drive. Installed only a month, but enough to know if initial electronics problems would surface. I'd buy another one.
Update 30 Jan 2008 -- I have a new desktop, tried the firewire card, and it still is a no go. Checked again on Seagate's website, but nothing new. So, the drive is working well as a USB attached unit, but the firewire interface will not work. I suspect there is something in the drive or interface that is not quite ready for prime time.
Digital camera Review: Failed two hours out of the box
Summary: 1 Stars
Very disappointed with this purchase(return).
Setup was a snap, but it quit on me while backing up 120 gigs of data. I tried a smaller backup (1.2 gigs) and the drive failed on 99% of the backup... then it just quit all together and was not recognized by my Mac.
Disk verification and repair (on my Mac) both showed errors on the Seagate drive that were unfixable.
Digital camera Review: Fast and Sleek, but frustrating Power Button
Summary: 3 Stars
Looks great on my desktop. Very fast transfers. Has worked well with either Firewire or USB cables. Having to change the base when you want to switch cable types is goofy, and not explained well in the product description. Overall, the drive is nice. Except for one significant problem...
THE POWER BUTTON is useless. It is touch sensitive and simply does not work. Other reviewers have said that it works if you press on it hard enough. But the amount of pressure does not effect its function on my drive. And I am quite certain that Seagate never intended for it to require a 500 pound person to stand on the power button to get it to come on. So I have had to resort unplugging the drive when not in use. So much for the auto backup software. Coupled with this is the related problem of the drive's sleep mode. Once it goes to sleep, it cannot be revived without unplugging and leaving it unplugged for at least a minute or so. Given past headaches with Seagate's customer service, I do not plan to return this drive. I'm going to live with it as a "plug it in only when I need it" backup drive.
Digital camera Review: Fast data transfer, runs and looks cool - best of breed for sure
Summary: 5 Stars
PCWorld's Editors Choice rating persuaded me to plunge into this all-too-often disappointing market. Foremost, the FreeAgent runs cool (just hand warm), it has an external powersupply (critical, as any mechanical device draws lots of juice from USB port - shortening battery life, etc). There is an on-off switch (surprisingly many units lack it); the modular design not only looks good, but provides connectivity options to select USB, USB/eSATA or firewire connection. Nice touch, the drive comes pre-formatted for the NTFS file system. Even after 3+ hours of continuous use (surface scan), the unit became warmer but not hot - a credit to sound engineering design. If you like freebies, there's a trial version of backup software, an offer to store your data via internet, and some other utilities -- personally, I just wipe them out.
The one hitch (not Seagate's problem) is the external eSATA controller; I purchased a Highpoint RR1522A which has 2 external ports and allows for RAID control of two drives. The controller works fine when the machine is awake, but seems to have problems reinitializing after a wakeup call, causing endless pulsating access to the HDD (??boot attempt) and sufficiently heavy power drain to activate the UPS alarm. Maybe have to return to the (slower) USB data link.